NEW YORK (May 24, 2018)– Today, StudySyncannounced the winners in its 2018 MyStudySyncTV contest. This marks the fifth year for the awards program where teachers submit student-produced videos that mimic the signature StudySync®TV and SkillsTV videos of student-led discussions on texts and skills within the StudySync program. A panel of judges screened entries with the top production awards going to the eighth grade students of Yvette Schemenauer at Day Creek Intermediate in Rancho Cucamonga, California and the students of Jacqueline England at Middle College High School in Stockton, California. First place for the Middle School SkillsTV submission was awarded to the sixth grade students of teacher Katrina O’Meara at Robert C. Fisler School in Fullerton, CA, for their thorough presentation of compound and complex sentences.
All winning production teams will have the opportunity to participate in a classroom Skype call with StudySync’s CEO, Robert Romano, and the winning teachers will receive an Amazon gift card for classroom supplies. Recognition was also given to the best direction, best script, best actor and actress, and best ensemble cast at both levels.
Middle School Winners and the Runner Up
Day Creek Intermediate students took the first place award in the Middle School MyStudySyncTV contest this year for their academic discussion of Ray Bradbury’s story “A Sound of Thunder.” Yvette Schemenauer's eighth grade students won through their enthusiastic and thorough analysis of Bradbury’s science fiction short story and their professional-like quality video.
“It’s obvious that great effort went into the making of Ms. Schemenauer’s students’ video. They did an amazing job of displaying not only their strong understanding of the literature, but also their superb video production skills,” said Robert Romano, Co-Founder and CEO of StudySync. “Their submission stood out, in part, because they were able to so successfully adopt the collaborative interaction and comprehension skills that are modeled in StudySync® TV and show them in their production. Seeing how these middle school students are so enthused and creative is really great to watch.”
Katrina O’Meara’s students at Robert C. Fisler School submitted a creative video styled after StudySync’s SkillsTV episodes and were able to capture the judges’ attention with a grammar lesson on compound and complex sentences.
The runner up for top middle school StudySync® TV production was a production of William Blake’s “A Poison Tree" by eighth grade students of teacher Elizabeth Ellison, also at Robert C. Fisler School. The video was chosen as runner up for its excellent screenplay.
High School Winners and the Runner Up
Students of Jacqueline England at Middle College High School in Stockton, California took the first place high school award this year for their production of Anthony Doerr’s "All the Light We Cannot See.” The team was awarded for their enthusiastic and thorough analysis of Doerr’s novel. A student from England’s team, Malik Moore, won the Best Actor award for his role in the production.
Students of teacher Katharine Hertz at Geneva High School in Geneva, Illinois won the runner-up designation for Top High School Production for their production ofOscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest, with solid acting and collaborative discussion. Haley Williams, a student on Hertz’s team, won the Best Actress award for her role.
“Making these video submissions is an immersive and collaborative experience for students, and I always look forward to seeing the thoughtful work they produce,” said Romano. “It’s the real deal – from creating scripts and editing video – really making this contest an exercise of their creative and organizational skills. When students are both enthusiastic and informed, it’s incredible what they can accomplish.”
About StudySync
StudySync is a comprehensive 6-12 ELA/ELL curriculum that offers powerful digital instruction with full print support accessible for all learners. Flexible, engaging and literature-rich, StudySync brings together fiction and nonfiction texts with video and other multimedia elements to advance students’ reading, writing, and critical thinking skills. StudySync — an anywhere, anytime, any device experience — offers English language arts instruction, interdisciplinary collaboration, peer-to-peer review, assessment, and a digital library that is searchable by genre, theme, grade and Lexile® level. For more information about the StudySync educational platform, visit http://www.studysync.com.
McGraw-Hill Education is the exclusive distributor of StudySync in the United States.
About McGraw-Hill Education
McGraw-Hill Education is a learning science company that delivers personalized learning experiences that help students, parents, educators, and professionals drive results. McGraw-Hill Education has offices across North America, India, China, Europe, the Middle East, and South America and makes its learning solutions available in more than 60 languages. Visit us at www.mheducation.comor find us on Facebookor Twitter.
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